Archives for September 2015

A suspect is in custody, charged with holding up the Cattaraugus County Bank on the Main Street Extension in Dunkirk. Police say 29-year-old Tyler Moon passed a note demanding money to a teller and made off with more than $1,000. He was found hiding in a nearby field a short time later. Moon is charged with robbery and grand larceny.

The Officer-In-Charge of the Portville Village Polce Department is facing two felony drug charges. 52-year-old Ronald Brisbee was arrested by New York State Police yesterday, charged with criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. He was also charged with oficial misconduct. Brisbee has been placed on administrative leave from his duties by village officials pending the outcome of the case.

The Officer-In-Charge of the Portville Village Pilce Department is facing two felony drug charges. 52-year-old Ronald Brisbee was arrested by New York State Police yesterday, charged with criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. He was also charged with oficial misconduct. Brisbee has been placed on administrative leave from his duties by village officials pending the outcome of the case.

Cattaraugus County’s unemployment rate fell to to 5.5 percent in August, compared to 6.2 percent in the same month last year, and the lowest since since 2007, according to the New York state Department of Labor. Allegany County’s jobless rate was 5.3 percent, down from 5.7 in August, 2014.

Federal health and safety officials will be inspecting Olean’s Social Security Administration office on North Union Street, and take samples to try and determine what caused a number of employees to break out in hives. The office has been temporarily shut down, and people requiring assistance are being told to go to the Social Security office in Jamestown. Officials say the Olean office was closed yesterday “out an abundance of caution” for employees and visitors, and there’s no word on when it’s expected to reopen.

Former Bradford City Fire Chief Richard Zmuda is in police custody in Wisconsin on a fugitive from justice warrant for allegedly stealing more than $47,000 from his elderly aunt. Zmuda was interim fire chief in Bradford from January thru March, following the retirement of former chief Chris Angell and before the appointment of current chief Eric Taylor. Zmuda, age 41, left Bradford last month and is currently the fire chief in North Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. Extradition proceedings are underway to bring Zmuda back to Bradford to face a charge of theft by deception, a third-degree felony.

What started as a routine traffic stop ended in a drug bust Monday in Allegany County. Wellsville police say they found 86 bags of heroin after 40-year-old Dana Beckhorn and 23-year-old Maegan Rix were pulled over on North Highland Avenue. The Wellsville residents face charges including including criminal possession of a controlled substance. Both were booked into the Allegany County Jail on $10,000 bail.

Help is on the way for local farmers who suffered severe crop damage last winter. Cattarraugus, Allegany and 42 other New York counties are included in a disaster declaration by the US Secretary of Agriculture, making financial assistance available for growers who suffered damage as a reult of frost, freeze and excessive snow from January thru May.

And the Small Business Administration has announced that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations. The SBA’s Frank Skaggs says, “When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to eligible entities affected by the same disaster.”

A tractor-trailer carrying one of the largest shipments ever manufactured at the Dresser-Rand facility in Olean
headed down the newly-reconfigured stretch of North Union Street last night. Dozens of people watched the 225-foot long truck with 20 axles and carrying a 446,000-pound load slowly but successfully navigate the roundabouts at Wayne and Main Streets on its way to Interstate 86.

A Bradford man is facing charges in connection with the fatal accident that claimed the life of Mike Mix of Mount Jewett last Friday afternoon on route 219 near Kennedy Springs. 41-year-old Bharat Gaikwad is charged with homicide by vehicle and DUI. Troopers say he smelled of alcohol after Friday’s crash and they found two empty bottles of vodka and an empty beer can in his car.

Family, friends and fellow firefighters said their final good-byes to Mix this morning. Funeral services were held for the 44-year-old president of the Mount Jewett Volunteer Fire Departmentat the United Methodist Church.